Island Choreography

Dance troupe Black Grace are in Guam performing a series of workshops in local schools and at the Sheraton Laguna Guam Resort for an audience at a gala dinner. Black Grace was founded in 1995 and is the longest lasting New Zealand Dance Company. Founder, artistic director and chief executive Neil Ieremia said the group’s name reflects qualities that he felt were important. Growing up in New Zealand, Ieremia said “black” was slang for courageous and daring. “It’s got nothing to do with color,” he said. “Growing up in the rough part of town, my friends would refer to each other as being black.” Black Grace is also touring New Zealand with ‘Gathering Clouds’, a work which according to the group’s site: “Responds to controversial claims made by economist Greg Clydesdale in which he warns that Polynesians display ‘significant and enduring under achievement’ — a problem he believes immigration is making worse.”